


Drinking with Dixon

by TheBannedAuthor



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Beth Greene mentioned, Drinking, Gen, Grief, Humor, Loss, Mentioned nudity, Merle Dixon mentioned, Never Have I Ever, Past Relationships, Whiskey - Freeform, drunk games, hints of bethyl, seriocomic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-22 08:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3721516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBannedAuthor/pseuds/TheBannedAuthor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tara and Eugene find themselves in the strange situation of playing a drinking game with an already partially drunk Daryl Dixon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drinking with Dixon

The others might have been suspicious about Alexandria, but Tara thought that it was the perfect safe haven. After months of being out on the road, Tara was looking forward to kicking back and relaxing for however long she could. Of course, she knew it wouldn’t last forever, nothing did in this world. But the place seemed fine so far. At least there weren’t any sociopathic dictators or cannibals this time. That was a positive in her opinion. She’d had to distrust Aaron at first but at the back of her mind she knew he was telling the truth. She’d kept her mouth shut though. Last time she believed in a guy so much to follow him, her sister ended up dying. And her niece. And her girlfriend. Then again maybe her judgment wasn’t the best. But Aaron was legit and she liked him and Eric (their names rhymed they were perfect for each other).

There were a few houses the people of Alexandria could spare but the gang had only moved into two, which didn’t leave a ton of living space but they all preferred being closer to each other. Except for Gabriel. No one knew where he’d gotten off too. So she ended up living with Team GREATM. And Noah. (Team GREANTM? She’d have to think about that) It was great cause she got to spend time with Glenn and Maggie and Rosita. Not so great when the two couples in the house decided to have their own private house warming parties… on the same night. And then Noah ditched the solidarity of singles session to go hang out with Reg.

So she and Eugene were left to wander through the streets. Team Not Getting Laid.

(While she was sure Eugene would have been all right with listening at Abraham and Rosita’s door, she found that super-fucking-creepy. Also Abraham made the weirdest noises, which she assumed were supposed to be all ‘manly’ but sounded more like a moose getting hit by a trailer)

“So here we are.” Tara said after a while of just gazing up at the stars. “Just the two of us. Team ET… kinda makes sense since we’re sorta alien to the others. Me being gay and you being… whatever you wanna be.”

“I suppose I am more heteronormative.” Eugene said, still looking up while speaking. “I have in the past been attracted to women but I can admit when a man is aesthetically pleasing.”

“Good to know….” Tara noticed that Eugene never looked a person straight on when speaking to them. But Daryl and Noah did the same thing anyway.

“Besides I don’t think being gay makes you different.”

Tara looked over at him, “Yeah I’ve heard that one before. So what does make me different then?”

Eugene shrugged, lowering his head but only looking at the ground.  “Some reasons…”

“…it’s because I’m weird isn’t it?” Eugene shrugged and Tara took that as a yes. She grinned, “You’re pretty weird too, man.”

“I’m aware of that.”

Tara bumped his shoulder with hers, “It’s a good weird. I mean, the peeping tom thing’s not so good weird. But you like talking about dinosaurs and H.P. Lovecraft and you know how to deal blackjack like a pro.”

Tara might have seen the flicker of a smile cross Eugene’s face. Then he looked up, frowning a bit, “What’s he doin’?”

Tara glanced over toward where Eugene was looking, seeing Daryl Dixon (of all people) stumble out of a house and onto the porch. He put a hand against the paneling to steady himself. He seemed pretty sluggish, like he was moving in slow motion, something very out of the ordinary for a squirrel hunter. Tara had to admit, Daryl was pretty much a regular badass who sometimes scared her but she had never seen him like this. He knew how to get around quickly and quietly and here he was stumbling around the porch. Daryl turned his back, unzipping his pants. After a moment he zipped back up and made back for the entrance, shutting the screen door with a bang.

Tara moved closer, Eugene following after her. There was a wet spot against the side of the house where Daryl had been standing. She looked over at Eugene, “…did he just take a piss outside this house?”

Eugene nodded, his eyebrows raised, “I believe his is inebriated considering how much effort it took for him to walk across the porch.”

“I thought he was with Carol… we should check on him.” She started up the stairs but Eugene put a hand on her shoulder, “I’d advise against that. He might become aggressive if we try to intrude.”

“You saw the guy, he can barely stand on his feet. He might accidentally hurt himself. Besides,” Tara stepped up onto the porch, “I’m not gonna intrude, I’ll knock first.” Eugene looked worried but he followed her up the porch stairs anyway. “Maybe we should go get someone else… Rick, Carol?” Tara knocked on the door anyway, pretending she didn’t hear what he last said.

There was a call from inside the house, “Go away!” Tara winced, _god I’m so stupid_ , “Hey man, it’s just Tara and Eugene…we were just in the neighborhood and noticed you…wanted to water your plant.” _Yeah I’m really stupid._

A moment later, Daryl showed up at the door, his face flushed. “Got no plants here.” Tara’s eyes were drawn to the unopened bottle of whiskey in his hand. “Yeah we saw that.”

Daryl narrowed his eyes at them, leaning an arm up against the doorway, “Why’re ya here?”

“Well…” Tara looked back at Eugene, but he didn’t look like he wanted to participate in this conversation. “We were figuring you might’ve gotten lost, you new to town and all, cause this isn’t your house and that was not your toilet.”

Daryl scowled but more at the wet spot than her “Couldn’t get upstairs, only toilet’s up there.”

“That is structurally unlikely.” Eugene interjected, “Two story house like this is bound to have two or three bathrooms.”

“Well I had to piss and I wasn’t bein’ picky.” Daryl was more talkative while he was drunk, Tara noted. He looked back at her, “Rick send you?”

She shook her head, “No…actually we kinda got kicked out of our room. The couples are getting intimate. You mind letting us in until they get done?”

Daryl scoffed but he pushed open the screen door for her after a moment, “Glenn’s pretty quick on the draw, you won’t have to stay long anyways.”

Tara stepped up into the house, but the minute she got close to Daryl he walked away into what looked like a living room. He had his crossbow resting against the couch, bottles of beer scattered on the floor.

Eugene lowered his voice, “Tara this is a bad idea.”

“He’s just drunk Eugene.” It was the bad kind of drunk too, Tara had experienced that herself a few times and she didn’t feel comfortable leaving Daryl alone.

Daryl was sat on the couch, trying to get the top off the bottle. Tara put her hands on the top of the couch, leaning over, “Need some help with that?”

Daryl cringed away from her, scooting over, “No.”

“…okay….” She looked back at Eugene who was standing awkwardly in the front hallway. “Eugene c’mon take a load off.” After a moment, Eugene walked in, heading straight for the armchair and sitting down. He didn’t say a word as he gripped the armrests, staring at the space in between Daryl and Tara.

Daryl slammed the bottle of whiskey onto the table with a huff, “Damn thing’s stuck.” Tara jumped over the back of the couch and sat down, reaching for the bottle, “Let me try. I’m not Mr. Muscles like you but I used to be my family’s bottle opener.” She grabbed the neck of the bottle, untwisting the cap easily. “…you must’ve loosened it up for me.” She said, Daryl looking at her coldly through his stringy hair. Had he even showered yet? Yeah he probably hadn’t showered yet.

“Whatever.” Daryl grabbed the bottle from her, taking a swig of it and making a face. “Wanted somethin’ stronger this is all they had.” He offered the bottle to Tara as he spoke. 

Tara took the bottle, tilting it back to take a sip from it herself, nearly retching. It had been a while since she’d had hard liquor. Though her reaction was pretty plain she smacked her lips, “Mmm…what’s that Fireball?”

Daryl grunted in response, holding his hand out to take the bottle back, “Hate cinnamon…” He said, drinking down another gulp.

“It’s not too bad.” Tara’s chest was warming up just from the one sip. It wouldn’t be so bad to have another right? She looked at Eugene, “I’m gonna get some glasses so we can share. You want some?”

Eugene glanced at Daryl, who proceeded to take another drink from the bottle, “Only if Daryl feels like sharin’.”

“Course he does. We’re all friends. Friends drink together all the time.” Tara waited for a response from Daryl but he said nothing. She shrugged and stood up, nearly tripping over Daryl’s sprawled out legs as she walked into the kitchen. “Don’t drink it all while I’m gone.”

As she checked the cabinets, Tara was pretty sure this night could go one of two ways. One: they’d all get drunk (or as drunk as you can get off one bottle of Fireball), pass out, and wake up in the morning all curled up in a pile. Or two: Daryl would get pissed off and rip them each a new one. Daryl didn’t seem like the happiest drunk but he had let them in so Tara was willing to bet on the first scenario. At least no one would start making out with each other if they did get drunk.

(Actually she might have to watch Eugene and Daryl on that one despite however “heteronormative” Eugene said he was.)

She grabbed three green tinted glasses from the cabinets and headed back in the room. “All right, one for me, one for you, Eugene, and one for Mr. Dixon.” Daryl flinched again when she put the glasses down but she wasn’t sure if it was to her actions or her words. Tara took the bottle from him, pouring them each half a glass of the whiskey.

“So uh…” She held up her glass. “To… Alexandria I guess. Thank you for not being a bunch of cannibals. We’re all very grateful.”

“…that’s a shitty toast.” Daryl commented, drinking down his glass.

“Okay then… how about to finally being able to sleep in an actual bed, eat at an actual table, and drink Fireball with friends after god knows how many months?” Eugene nodded and clinked his glass against hers. “I will drink to that.” Tara grinned, drinking the whiskey in one gulp.

“Whatever.” Daryl said, pouring himself another glass. Eugene downed his own glass, surprisingly showing no adverse reaction to the alcohol.

Tara held her glass out for more booze, the silence stretching on between the three of them for what felt like hours (but was probably only thirty seconds).

“… fuck it then-“ Daryl sat back into the couch, a hand hovering above his crossbow, which didn’t go unnoticed by the other two, “We’re gonna play a game here cause this is borin’ as shit.”

“Drinking game?” Tara grinned, “That’s the best kind of game.”

Daryl shot a look at her for interrupting him. “…okay okay shut up Tara I get it.”

Daryl rolled his eyes, swirling the whiskey around in his glass. “We each gotta say somethin’ we ain’t ever done. If ya’ done it then ya’ drink. If no one has, person sayin’ they ain’t done it’s gotta drink.”

“…oh, you mean Never Have I Ever?” Tara looked at Eugene, “Sounds fun. Though I gotta say, as far as drinking games go Seven Minutes in Heaven is probably the best. But not exactly possible in this situation.”

“That would be much more awkward come morning.” Eugene said, looking down at the glass in his hand. “I say we stick with Daryl’s game.”

Daryl slid off the couch and landed on the floor with a grunt, sloshing some of his drink onto the wood floor. Tara wasn’t sure if this was done on purpose or not, but she plopped down onto the floor next to him. “C’mon, Eugene.” Eugene awkwardly lowered himself down, kneeling on the hard wood floors.

“I’ll start.” Daryl went silent, squinting his eyes in thought, “…I never been outside Georgia.”

“…really? Well okay.” Tara took a sip from her glass as did Eugene. Daryl gestured to Tara, lifting his glass. “You next.”

“Okay, uhm…” Tara paused, trying to think of what the other two might have done she hadn’t. “Never have I ever… made out with a dude.”

Neither Daryl nor Eugene moved toward their glasses, prompting Tara to take a sip from hers. “It was worth a shot. There can’t just be only three gay people in a place this big.”

“I suppose it is my turn now.” Eugene licked his lips, “I have never… shot a crossbow.”

Daryl scoffed and took a drink, “Real imaginative.”

“I’m just starting out I went for the simplest one.”

“Yeah well I ain’t teachin’ you.” Tara wasn’t sure where that came from but she decided not to ask Daryl. He leaned back into the couch, “I never been on vacation ever.”

“That sucks.” Tara took a drink from her glass as did Eugene. “Admittedly I didn’t go anywhere special. Just Disney a couple times and once to San Francisco during spring break. What about you Eugene?”

Eugene shrugged, “I once went to Switzerland Alps with a few colleagues. Only time I ever traveled overseas.”

“You know you’re gonna have to tell us what you really did now instead of the scientist thing.” Tara sighed, “But that can be later. Never have I ever… ridden a horse. The things freak me out I would not trust them between my legs.”

Daryl shrugged and took a drink, “Ain’t so bad once y’get used to it.”

“I’m going to agree with Tara. I have never felt comfortable with the thought of riding one.”  Eugene said. “I have never… owned a pet. I would have liked a dog but I never had the time to take care of one.”

Tara took a sip from her class, “…me and Lily had two dogs. Bruno and Max. Both mutts. Bruno would hide behind my legs whenever he got scared and Max always overly barked at the mailman. And then Lily got a puppy for Megan when she was old enough and Megan named her Princess.”

After a moment Daryl also took a drink. “There was this cat that used t’come round the house when I was a kid. He weren’t mine but I used to throw jerky at him. …got scared off one day by my old man. Tried to shoot him for target practice. He never came round again.”

“Aw man, that’s sad.”

Eugene narrowed his eyes at Daryl, “…your father tried to shoot the cat?”

Daryl glared at Eugene for a second, signaling that subject was off limits. “Let’s keep goin’ with the game.”

And so they did.

The game went on a while and the whiskey in the bottle was emptied until there were only the dregs left. But even still all of them had drunk a fair share of the alcohol.

As the game went on (and the participants started to get tipsy) their questions became incredibly silly and their revelations were earth shattering.

“I have never have seen a Julia Roberts film. There’s something about her voice that bothers me.”

“Who the hell’d you moon? Ain’t no one wanna see that white ass.”

“Never have I ever hated a Taylor Swift song. She just gets me. I’ve been with her from Teardrops on my Guitar, though I always had to replace Drew with Jen.”

“I ain’t never texted. Never held a cell phone either.”

“No way, you streaked in front of a Baptist church too?”

“I have never been to a concert that wasn’t in the form of a string orchestra.” Eugene admitted, with some shame. “Did have tickets to an Eminem one but the girl going with me cancelled at the last moment.”

“Believe me you didn’t miss much.” Tara said with a giggle, taking a sip from her glass. “Okay Daryl, your turn.”

Daryl had earlier taken out his hunting knife and was carving into the floor, “…never sang out in front of a crowd.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” Tara drank again, going right into her turn. “Never have I ever… been to a farm. Like there’s so many here but I’ve never actually gone to one until now.”

Both Daryl and Eugene drank at that one. Tara noticed through her haze that Daryl had started to get gloomy, muttering during his turn, all the things he’d never done Tara thought only a teenage girl might do.

“I have never been able to ask a woman on a date. I find conversation very easy but when that subject is broached I get tongue-tied.”

Tara took another drink from her glass (she was pretty sure she was in the lead by now), and then looked over at Daryl. “What? Are you shy around girls too?” She teased him.

Daryl snorted but didn’t look up at her not saying a thing.

“Okay…” Tara sat forward, “It’s your turn, man.”

Daryl was motionless for a full minute before taking a breath, “I never… had frozen yogurt.”

Tara nearly asked if Daryl was feeling all right because it sounded like that was the worst thing in the world to him.

…well maybe he really wanted to try it and now that it’s gone he can’t.

Tara took a drink, still wondering what was bothering him. “Never have I ever…been in a relationship that lasted longer than a few months.” Neither one of the men drank at that so Tara had to take _another_ drink. She licked her lips, “Damn I kinda feel like I’m the only one that’s doin’ this.”

“I’ve never really been in a relationship.” Eugene fiddled with the glass in his hands. “Never really had the opportunity.”

“Well this got depressing real fast.” Tara noted that Daryl had flinched again but had not taken a drink from his glass. “Your turn Daryl.”

“…pass.” Daryl didn’t look up at her, just continued to carve with his knife.

“…okay. Guess I’ll go.” Tara took a breath, deciding to take a risk. “Never have I ever been in love.” That was a complete lie but with the way Eugene and Daryl were acting she knew this would get some response out of them.

And the response was Eugene sighing and drinking down the remaining whiskey in his glass. “I met Samantha Egerton in my second year of college and I couldn’t get her out of my head for the rest of the year. She was interested but… I never made that move. Then she transferred. I…I never saw her again.”

“…ah god-“ Tara moved around the table to Eugene, giving him a hug. “You are such a depressing drunk.”

Eugene froze when she wrapped her arms around him, “…and you are more than affectionate for the both of us.” Tara chuckled, backing away, “Seriously tomorrow we’re gonna work on getting you some confidence in the ladies area. I think you and Daryl could do with some lessons from yours truly.” She turned to Daryl, about to tease him but her words stopped when she saw he was also taking a drink from his glass.

Daryl put his glass on the table, looking up at the both of them, his face expressionless. He sheathed his knife, sitting up. “I’m done playin’.”

Tara cleared her throat and nodded, “Yeah, game over for all of us.”

* * *

 

Tara woke up the next morning, her head pounding. She groaned, forcing herself to sit up on the couch. It wasn’t the worst headache she’d ever had from drinking but a part of her just wanted to lie back down and put a pillow over her head to block out that stupid light in the sky.

Eugene was still curled up in the armchair, his mouth open a bit in his sleep. Tara winced as she sat up, groaning to herself, “Fucking Fireball, you never hit me this hard.” She held her head in her hands, closing her eyes for a few minutes as she tried to get her bearings.

Tara pushed herself up from the couch, grabbing one of the glasses off the table and stumbling into the kitchen.  She filled the glass with water, gulping it down and refilling it again. She drank another glass of water before refilling it and heading back into the living room. That’s when she noticed that Daryl wasn’t in the room but outside standing on the porch, resting his arms on the railing. She partly wondered why he hadn’t left when he’d woken up. He probably had a worse hangover than she did.

She left the glass of water for Eugene when he woke up and went outside. Daryl looked over his shoulder when he heard the door open, holding her gaze for a moment before looking away. Tara stepped over to him, pushing herself up to sit on the railing next to him, facing away from the sun.

“…my girlfriend died at the prison.” Daryl actually looked over at her, surprised she was speaking. “So did my niece. And my sister. You guys… you weren’t the only ones who lost people.”

Daryl didn’t say anything but Tara wasn’t finished anyway, “It… it was really something of you guys to accept me after that. Especially Maggie. And I really am trying to be a part of this group.” She looked at Daryl, “And I lied last night. I was in love, except I didn’t really know it. I loved Alisha and when I found her at the prison she had been shot in the head.”

She took a breath, “The reason I’m telling you this is cause… I get it. You probably don’t wanna hear this but I get what you were going through. Are going through. I only knew my girlfriend about a month… how long did you know her? Maggie’s sister?”

Daryl looked away from her and he didn’t speak for so long she was afraid she had lost him or made him angry. “...only really knew her ‘till a few months ago.”

“…it just all sucks.”

“…yeah.”

…

“My brother,” Daryl spoke out of the blue, “He got himself killed too. Governor killed him.”

“…I’m sorry….” Tara really didn’t know what else to say, this was all new information. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”

Daryl nodded, “Never thought I could live without him... I did though.”

“Yeah… I didn’t think I could live without my sister either.” Tara looked back at the house, “It’s hard. When someone leaves you don’t expect to. And you miss them. Miss them all the time.”

“Hmph.”

Tara looked over at Daryl. “…you miss her?”

Daryl looked back at her, pinching his lips together like he wanted to say something. But he didn’t. It was pretty clear to Tara what the answer was anyway.

Tara sighed, “So we can live without our siblings. So question is, what’s it gonna take to live without _them_?”

Daryl shrugged, “Dunno.”

“Me neither.”

Tara heard the door open and she looked over to see Eugene stumbling outside, nearly running into the wooden post. “You good?” She asked him. Eugene put a hand against the post, straightening up, “I am not lying when I say this is the worst my head has ever hurt.”

Tara winced and hopped off the railing, “Let’s get back then. Hopefully when we get back to the house the only pounding you’ll hear is in your ears.” She looked back at Daryl. “Are you coming?”

Daryl glanced back at the house, taking a good look at it before grabbing his crossbow, “You’re both a couple of lightweights ya know.” He said, passing them as he walked down the porch steps.

Tara grinned, “We should do that again sometime.” She thought she heard Eugene make a noise of protestation at that.

Daryl shrugged, looking back at them, “I got no plans.”

“Next time though,” He turned around and kept walking, “You’re bringin’ your own hooch.”

**Author's Note:**

> I should have probably edited this more but its one a.m. and I don't care. I love Tara and Eugene's friendship but the second biggest interaction I wanted to have happen during this season that didn't was something between Daryl and Tara. Their situations are a lot more alike than they seem. This is probably ooc at some points which is utter blasphemy for me but I really needed to work out this idea and do something moderately happy then I usually write.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed it!


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